Weekend “She’s BAAAaaack!” Open Comments

judo n. A sport and method of physical training similar to wrestling, developed in Japan in the late 19th century and using principles of balance and leverage adapted from jujitsu.
Yard judo: n. A method of tackling challenging outdoor projects, using the principles of leverage and balance to accomplish otherwise impossible tasks
I didn’t get to work out at the gym on Wednesday, due to scheduling issues, but I had 45 minutes to work in the back yard. The yard has been absent my ministrations for almost two years (the only exception being one foray about two weeks ago, which was only to tackle some weeds in my garden, which is still in grave condition, dang it!).
Y’all have laughed at my “dead tallow tree” but it was still there, laying on top of Mirkwood. There was also another tree that fell over by my back fence. Those who have been to the Dome can attest to the distance involved. I found a second fallen tree by the back fence, but it has become so overgrown that it was too much for me to move. I did break off some of the branches, but I will have to wait for either some heavy equipment to appear, the winter to kill of the overgrowth, or for time and decay to take its toll. In this case, entropy is my friend.
In the cases of the trees that I was able to move, I used yard judo to accomplish my goals. Obviously, I couldn’t just grab and drag ’em. They were too big, too heavy, and – in the case of the Mirkwood tallow – weeds were creating a drag that was hard to overcome.
The first step in judo technique was to roll the back fence tree. It was the biggest of all of them, and very, very heavy. Rolling caused the weight of the trunk to break off the larger limbs, which were carried to the waste pile. This reduced the weight I had to carry, but the trunk was still incredibly heavy. As I say, “Where there’s a wheel, there’s a way!” I grabbed my much-abused yard cart and lifted half of the trunk onto the cart crosswise. I kept pulling and shoving until I got it into position, then toted the tree to the pile, trying to hold onto it the whole time. I never had to handle the entire weight of the trunk in this way.

Then to Mirkwood. Again, I broke off larger limbs. Fortunately, this tree had been in decay even while vertical, so the weight had been drastically reduced already. After toting the limbs to the pile, I went back and tackled the trunk. It took quite a bit of pushing and pulling, but I finally got it loose and managed to dislodge it from the overgrowth. The cart wasn’t much use here – the angles were all wrong to load it up – and it was a short tote, so I rolled and dragged that sucker to the pile.

Then I grabbed a third log, between Mirkwood and the eastern fence line. Lifting with my legs and not my back, I dragged it to the pile.

It may be hard to tell from the pictures, but most of those larger pieces were 10 feet or more, and the trunk diameters 6-8 inches more or less. They were hard to hold, especially with those dadgum ants and critters on ’em.
There’s a fourth log that I wanted to move, but it was heavier than the others and I don’t want to end up in a wheelchair again. You can see it in the background. It’s time will come!
It’s good to be back!
Next…the shovel!